20VC: CEO Whisperer Jerry Colonna on How Investors Mimic Aggressive Behaviour To Cover Insecurity and Why Vulnerability is Key To Success In VC

Justin Kan is a Partner @ world renowned, Y Combinator. The birthplace of the likes of Airbnb, Reddit, Dropbox, Stripe, Zenefits and many more incredible companies. Prior to YC, Justin co-founded SocialCam, acquired by Autodesk for $60m and Twitch.tv, the world's leading video platform and community for gamers, acquired by Amazon for $970m in 2014. In Today's Episode with Justin You Will Learn: How Justin came to found Twitch.tv and then later made the transition into VC with YC? Having been a YC alum, how has Justin seen YC as an institution change over time? How have the interviews, demo days, mentoring arrangements altered? How can YC keep the same quality of startup treatment with the mass scaling taking place? YC always positions itself as an accompaniment to the VC industry, does the new $700m YC growth fund not directly compete against VCs? What 3 qualities does Justin believes all good investors must have? How has Justin looked to establish his own personal brand? What has worked and what has not? Justin is very bullish on Snapchat, why so? What makes Justin so excited for the platform? How does Justin use it to such success? What would Justin like to see change in the platform? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Justin's Fave Book: Shogun Justin's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Nuzzel & The Information As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Justin on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

1 Aug 201626min

Amir Elaguizy is the Founder & CEO @ YC backed, Cratejoy, the website builder and backend for subscription e-commerce stores. Cratejoy have funding from the likes of General Catalyst, Andreesen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Charles River Ventures With regards to Amir, he previously founded Market Zero, a poker software company which was acquired by Zynga, where he then spent time as a game CTO. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Amir came to be an entrepreneur, got acquired by Zynga and then started Cratejoy? 2.) With the recent acquisition of Dollar Shave Club, the subscription e-commerce business is hot, why does Amir think most people misunderstand the space? 3.) Amir previously said, 'owning recruiting is the single most important thing you can do', why does he believe this? Does Amir believe that the early team might not necessarily be the team to evolve from a $1m business to a $20m business? 4.) What is the difference between foundational team members and mercenary team members? What are the signs an individual is worth spending time to grow with? 5.) Amir previously said, 'most people have never received true direct feedback on performance', how does Amir look to differentiate himself? Is it suitable for the leadership to be the bad guy? 6.) How can the firing process be approached with respect and dignity? Should it ever be a surprise? If it is a surprise what does that suggest about your leadership previously? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Amir's Fave Book: Hard Thing About Hard Things Amir's Fave Podcasts: The Twenty Minute VC, SaaStr As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Amir on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

29 Jul 201626min

Sean Flynn is a Managing Partner @ Shasta Ventures where he invests in mobile-enabled consumer Internet and enterprise software companies. Sean has led Shasta's investments in Dollar Shave Club, Whisper and serves on the board of directors for the likes of TimeHop, Zefr, Swipely, Bloc and TigerText. Before joining Shasta, Sean worked at Yahoo, where he focused on growing the company's communication and messaging products such as Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, Groups and Flickr. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Sean made his way into VC from the titan that is Yahoo? Now today I want to do something slightly different and do a myth busting episode, take a couple of sectors and discuss whether they are truths and complexities to the core statement. 2.) Starting with the most common assumption in VC that it is all about team, to what extent does Sean place team ahead of product and is this a slight misconception? 3.) Many are saying mobile is a dying space. Sean previously said, 'it is not dead yet'. Why is there promise for mobile? What will be the catalyst of it's death? How does this affect Sean's investment decision making? 4.) Another much hyped topic is AR/VR, is the excitement surround AR and VR justified? Where does Sean stand on investing in the installation phase of cycles? 5.) Similar to AR/VR is the hype surround bots justified? What will be the sustainable business model for bots? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Sean's Fave Book: What Do You Do With An Idea Sean's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Nuzzel, 538 Blog Sean's Most Recent Investment: Tally As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Sean on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

27 Jul 201629min

Semil Shah is the founder of Haystack, an early stage investment firm now investing out of it's third fund, with previous investments being Instacart, DoorDash, Managed by Q. In the past he has also been a consultant to some of the leading funds in the valley including the likes of Kleiner Perkins, DFJ, General Catalyst and more. If that was not enough, Shah also has an extensive career in media having been a contributor for both TechCrunch and the Harvard Business Review in the past. Due to all of this Shah was listed by Marc Andreesen as one of his '55 Unknown Rockstars in Tech'. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Semil made his way into VC? How did he come to create Haystack? 2.) What were the challenges and concerns for Semil in raising and establishing his own fund? 3.) Question from Michelle Tandler: How does Semil send deals through to Series A? What is his 'cool' process? What are the commonalities of those that make it to Series A and those that do not? 4.) How has Semil approached the aspect of personal VC branding? How does he evaluate the rise of the personal VC brand in the last few years? 5.) Why does Semil believe he is not 'founder friendly' in the conventional sense? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Semil's Fave Book: Burmese Days by George Orwell Semil's Most Recent Investment: AquaCloud As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Semil on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

25 Jul 201623min

David Helgason is the Founder and Board Member @ Unity 3D. The company that recently announced a new $181m Series C, valuing the company at $1.5bn. Unity's platform has revolutionized the game industry by allowing any size studio from Indie to Triple-A to create beautiful and compelling games and experiences and monetize them with their advertising and analytics services. As for David, he served as CEO of Unity from its founding in 2003 right up until 2014 taking the company through numerous funding rounds including from the one and only Sequoia Capital. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How David came to found Unity 3D? 2.) How pivotal was the rise of the App stores to the rise of Unity 3D? What does David make of Apple's recent announcement to add paid search and subscription pricing? 3.) How does David evaluate the current gaming landscape? What does he not like abou the industry and how the major players are operating? 4.) What are David's thoughts on the emerging platforms like AR and VR? How does he incorporate them into Unity's future product roadmap? 5.) How was the fundraising process for David with Unity? How did the Sequoia investment happen and what has it been like to work with them and Roelof Botha? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: David's Fave Book: Guns, Germs & Steel As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and David on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

22 Jul 201624min

Alex Bangash is a Managing Director @ Rumson Group where he helps his clients invest in some of the best performing funds around the world. Alex has done just that having made over 50 investments into funds across the globe. If that was not enough he is also the founder of Trusted Insight, the worlds largest platform for institutional investors and backing from the first investors or founder @ Facebook, LinkedIn, Mint and Match.com. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Alex made his way into the world of investing in VC funds? 2.) Why does Alex believe the whole finance industry is backward looking? Is this why he thinks there is so much VC churn? 3.) Why does Alex believe VC is always about access? Is this why Alex has such a strong preference for funds that are also platforms? 4.) Why does Alex believe true early stage is getting smaller and smaller? How does his return expectations differ according to the size of the fund? 5.) What happens when funds do not go to plan or do not have notable exits to raise fund II? What happens then? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Alex's Fave Book: Ben Horowitz: Hard Thing About Hard Things, Peter Thiel: Zero To One Alex's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Paul Graham As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Alex on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

20 Jul 201626min

Jeff Bussgang is a Co-Founder and General partner @ Flybridge Capital, where has made investments in numerous incredible companies including 2 former guests of the show, Jeff Seibert @ Crashlytics (sold to Twitter) and Josh Udashkin @ Raden. Jeff is also a Senior Lecturer @ Harvard Business School where he has co-authored no less than 15 cases. He is also an author having written the renowned, Mastering The VC Game to the acclaim of The Financial Times, TechCrunch, BusinessWeek and more. Jeff also has an incredible blog, Seeing Both Sides, which you can find here. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Jeff made his way into VC? How did he come to co-found Flybridge? 2.) To what extent does Jeff believe there is a glass ceiling for people without operations experience to progress up the VC ladder? 3.) How can companies establish cultures and processes when they have to change and reinvent every 6-12 months? 4.) What are venture returns? What metrics does Jeff use to determine his success? 5.) Is a focus on unit economics now one of the only ways to achieve equity value creation? How can consumer adoption drive equity value creation? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Jeff's Fave Book: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl Jeff's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Mattermark Daily Jeff's Most Recent Investment: Sentenai As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Jeff on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

18 Jul 201624min

Kyle Hill is the Co-Founder & CEO @ HomeHero, one of the largest providers of non-medical home care in California. HomeHero has provided over 1 million hours of care to thousands of families and won "Best Employment Website of 2014". Due to this immense success Kyle has been on CNN, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and many more. HomeHero has raised funds from some of the world's best investors including Chamath & Mamoon @ Social Capital, Jason Calacanis @ TWIST and Peter & Michael @ Science Inc. Click To Play UPVOTE ON PRODUCTHUNT In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Kyle came to found HomeHero? What was the a-ha moment for him? 2.) Question from Mamoon @ Social Capital: Considering that this is not your typical software business; being largely people centric, how does Kyle think about the profitability of such a business? 3.) How much of a role does unit economics lay in the mind of Kyle? How does Kyle look to balance growth with profitability? 4.) How was the fundraising process for Kyle with Chamath & Mamoon @ Social Capital? What did Kyle do to prepare for the pitch? What did Kyle do well? What would Kyle look to improve upon? How would Kyle like VCs to treat him as a Founder? 5.) ? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Kyle's's Fave Book: Black Swan Kyle's Fave Blog: The Best Designs.com As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Kyle on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Snapchat here! This episode was brought to you by DesignCrowd, the online marketplace for custom graphic, logo and web design that helps startups, entrepreneurs, web developers and agencies outsource design projects to designers from around the world. How Does It Work? Once you have launched your brief, designers will begin submitting quality designs for you to review. With some constructive feedback, you can quickly generate a large gallery of designs that really do fit your needs. You can have exactly what you need within just three days. Once you have selected your favourite design, you will be sent all the files you require to update your branding. If you don't like any of the submitted designs, then DesignCrowd offers a money back guarantee. So checkout designcrowd.com/VC and enter the promo code VC100 to get an astonishing $100 off your next project.

15 Jul 201629min